


Chains and Whispers

by MindlessIdeologist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Asylums (implied), F/M, I bloody hope theres no character death, Injury, M/M, Should end up in fluff, Stowaways, Train journey, attempted suicide, failed suicide attempt, implication of character death, implication of child abuse, mention of emotional abuse, verbal abuse mainly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-23 22:42:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1582067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindlessIdeologist/pseuds/MindlessIdeologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eridan Ampora can't take his own spiralling self-doubt coupled with the rejection of the girl that he loves, and his instability causes him to try something drastic.</p><p>When he meets Karkat and Jade, he doesn't even get their names, but he sure as hell recognises them when they're rushed in through his new job at the hospital.</p><p>Karkat blames himself of course. He always does, whenever anything happens to Jade it's always his fault and he can't stand the comfort of his friends. He can't sleep and he can't move, and when he breaks down crying at Jade's bedside in the early hours of the morning, he finds comfort in a silent water-bearer.<br/>The cool drink calms him down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Savin' Me

The day wasn’t cold, per se, but to the scarf-clad seventeen-year-old heading down the streets of London, it felt like he was walking through liquid ice.  
It wasn’t even like he wasn’t used to the cold. Born and raised in the most northern parts of northern Scotland, he’d seen his fair share of ice and snow, but the cold he felt wasn’t physical and therefore couldn’t compare.

He could only describe the icy feeling as emptiness. There was no other explanation, not that one was needed. Emptiness fit the feeling perfectly.  
He hated the emptiness, because it was misplaced and stupid. He was stupid, so stupid, to lay his heart on the table like he had, and he was bitterly regretting it.  
The looks of shock from his best friend and his workmates as he’d let the words spill from him haunted him, cropping up every few steps and they stung his eyes with their image.  
The rejection that followed, he’d known, had been inevitable, but it didn’t stop it from hurting a lot.

In their line of work, he’d always been taught, you can’t let yourself feel anything. Emotion is weakness for assassins and saboteurs, the underworld runs on apathy.  
He just… kind of assumed that being so close for so long, after he’d saved her life… he assumed she would reciprocate his feelings.  
He was wrong.  
The rejection hadn’t actually been too bad, now that he reflected on it. It was just unfortunate that his self-hatred had kicked in at that precise moment, unable to take anything more. It was something she’d always hated and even as he’d broken down crying in the corner of the dark restaurant, she’d strode away, but not before chewing him out over it of course.  
Once again, the image of her hair swishing perfectly, like it always did, flitted through his mind, and he saw himself reaching out toward her as she left.

He winced at the memory and changed his course. He couldn’t live with this, not any more. He was stupid, an idiot, he’d lost everything he cared for and the guilt of his job was crashing down on him like a boulder crushing bones.  
He entered the office building that he worked in during the day and made his way upwards to the top floor, and then to the roof.  
He received odd looks from colleagues as he passed, none of them guessed his true motive of returning to the only building he could reach the roof of in the entire city without much effort. He had no more effort to give.  
As he stepped across the littered rooftop, he could feel the unfamiliar burn of tears breaking loose. There was the sound of shouting; it was an unfamiliar voice. It came from the ground below him. He could see, from his vantage point of the building’s edge, tousled black hair, two heads, blurred by tears. He took off his glasses and tucked them safely in the folds of his scarf, almost laughing at the irony of it. They were going to break anyhow, and the renewal of this thought sent a maniacal chuckle through his body. It was swept away by the air that passed him as he tipped himself off of the edge of the building, finally feeling free from everything he’d always worried about. Finally.

The pavement’s surface didn’t strike him with the force he’d intended, instead he found himself in a tangle of black jumper and hands before he hit the ground with considerably less finality than he’d set out to do; and he was glad. He was so glad, because he had so much to live for that he hadn’t realised until he was falling from the 18th floor of his office building. So much past Feferi Peixes, past Sollux Captor, past romance and he was so blind for not seeing it before. Shouts washed over him from both of his saviours as he picked himself up, and he inspected them both as he thanked them, repeatedly. One was kind of short, with messy black hair and tired-looking eyes, wearing an oversized black jumper with the Cancer symbol in grey, a garment he was tugging back on after saving the life of the stranger jumping from a building.  
His fellow life saver was female, she had dark hair in a curtain not dissimilar to Feferi’s, but Eridan found it made him happier. His own name rolling in his mind for the first time since the restaurant pulled him back to reality and he realised he was staring at her eyes, a bright green. Both stood over him as best they could, seeing as both were shorter, but they were nonetheless intimidating and all he could do was cry his thanks and promise that he’d pay them back, one day.

It was only after they left that he realised that he didn’t even know their names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is going to be kind of a "write with the time" kinda thing that I'm only really posting because I wrote another chapter in class that I really liked.  
> Kinda unrealistic that Kar and Jade didn't break their fucking wrists/Eridan's neck but it's fanfiction so I'm just  
> going to overlook my mistakes  
> oops  
> Enjooooooooy!!!!!!!!  
> johndave etc will be next chapter mis amigos


	2. How To Save A Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He doesn’t sleep; he can’t, and across from him both John and Dave were sat, curled together and deep in slumber.  
> He forced himself to remember that Jade still had the chance to awaken, but the voice in his head wouldn’t stop its song that she wouldn’t; she’d been too badly hurt.  
> It was a fucking big bus.

It was torture sitting there alone and he knew he was making it worse, but he couldn’t help it. All he could see was bright eyes as she ran to move him, because he was frozen. There was a cape of hair flowing behind her as she ran, and if he’d known how heavy it was going to be with blood, he thought, he would have closed his eyes and turned away.

Truth is, he knew that wasn’t true; he’s never been able to tear his gaze from her when she was so full of emotion. He loved the way her green eyes stormed with anger or gleamed with mischievous euphoria. He even loved her eyes when the screamed with fear, although he loathed the reasons why they would do so.

Dave tried to talk to him, a hand on his shoulder in comfort, but he shook his head and turned the volume on his phone up to maximum. The song was one he hated that he could relate to, and the words screamed from the phone as they screamed through his mind, a voice that was simultaneously his own and foreign ' _You don’t know where you went wrong, you’ve lost her, your friend, and it’s all because you were lost in your own bitterness_.'

He doesn’t sleep; he can’t, and across from him both John and Dave were sat, curled together and deep in slumber.  
He forced himself to remember that Jade still had the chance to awaken, but the voice in his head wouldn’t stop its song that she wouldn’t; she’d been too badly hurt.  
It was a fucking big bus.

He didn’t notice when he started crying, but he sure as hell noticed that the sleeves of his jumper were soaked through with the salty despair. He shifted the phone, which was dead by that point, to his pocket to keep it dry. He couldn’t stop crying.  
He begged for Jade’s forgiveness, over and over and over, until a foreign hand offered a cup of water, which was gladly taken. The cold liquid hurt his teeth, setting them with a dull ache that made him draw a shuddering breath of realisation that he was still alive.

The mysterious stranger sat beside him, and he vaguely recognised the water bearer as a porter or a nurse, hospital staff of some description. That being said, Karkat’s new acquaintance was dressed in an oversized black jumper similar his and he had a scarf around his neck that looked heavy. Karkat guessed he was off duty. A small investigation into his appearance showed Karkat that the stranger looked familiar, with a purple streak in dyed black hair and large glasses that magnified tired eyes.  
The staff member shot a careful glance in Karkat’s direction which the latter promptly ignored as he turned back to Jade, leaving the scarf-clad stranger to sit with him in silence.

It was a good half hour later that Karkat began to cry again, prompting the stranger sitting beside him to hand him another cup of cold water. This time, Karkat mumbled a thanks through thick sobs.  
The crying teen had stripped his wet jumper and he was starting to feel the cold of the hospital seeping into his bones.  
A soft weight found itself draped around Karkat’s shoulders, followed by the sound of brief footsteps and the door closing, and he was once again left alone. He inspected the thing the stranger had draped around his shoulders; at first glance it appeared to be a blanket, but on further inspection, Karkat found it to be a cape in the same deep violet as the streak in the stranger’s hair. There was a small tag which bore a name, although Karkat found it stupid because, ‘ _Who owns a fucking cape nowadays?_ ’  
But it gave him a chance to learn the strangers name; Eridan Ampora.  
Eridan. It seemed like an odd name, but then again, Karkat Vantas wasn’t exactly normal either.  
And, when he thought about it, Karkat found that a lot of his friends had abnormal names; Feferi, Kanaya, Nepeta, Equius… the only ‘normal’ ones were Dave, John, Jade and Rose.  
Karkat drew the cloak a little tighter around himself and curled on the chair, warming himself in the gift from a friend found in unexpected places.

 

The next morning came with little fuss. John and Dave left Karkat to sleep, although not before wondering about the mysterious cloak of course. They neglected to wake him until,  
“Her hand moved!” the shout cut through Karkat’s sleep and he sat up.  
“Hey, her eyes are opening. John, go get someone!” John pounded out of the room, shouting for attendance as Karkat stood up. Unwilling to let go of the cloak, but needing his hands, he fastened it around his neck and moved towards Jade’s bed. In the daylight, Karkat was suddenly reminded that he’d seen that particular shade of violet somewhere…  
His thoughts were interrupted as Jade let out a groan and flicked her eyes open properly, initiating tears from both John and Karkat. They clutched at each other as doctors and nurses fussed around the newly-awakened patient. One of the aiding nurses passed Karkat, and suddenly, he remembered where he’d seen the violet streak before. Falling from an 18-storey building in central London. Bouncing off his and Jade’s linked arms.  
The jumper the nurse had been wearing last night; it had been in the same style as Karkat’s own jumper, and now he understood why.  
Karkat fixed Eridan with a pointed look, and as soon as they were both free, Karkat left the hospital , almost crashing into Eridan as he rounded the corner.  
“This is yours.” Karkat unclasped the cape that he’d forgotten he’d been wearing and handed it back, eliciting an almost-smile from the taller one. “Thanks.”  
“So it was you.”  
“That jumped off a buildin’? Yeah. That’s me.” Eridan held out a hand precariously.  
“You fractured my wrist.” Karkat quirked an eyebrow as he shook Eridan’s hand.  
“You turned my life around.” The admission came from Eridan unexpectedly. Karkat ‘hmph’d,’ “Seriously,” Eridan insisted, “If it w-wasn’t for you, I w-would a died, or I w-would a killed people.”  
“What the fuck?”  
“I w-was an assassin.” ' _Fuck Eridan, why are you telling this to a complete stranger of all people?_ ' “I killed people an’ I w-would a carried on killin’ people.”  
“Well, fuck.” And at that statement, Eridan expected the shorter male to flee. He was gravely mistaken; instead, Karkat pulled Eridan into an awkward kind of half-hug. “I guess I’m glad I made a difference?”  
“I didn’t get your name either.”  
“Karkat Vantas.” Karkat cracked a brief smile and checked his watch. “We’ve been out here long enough. Stick around, Eridan, we have a whole hoard of people for you to meet. They’re all annoying as fuck.”

Karkat couldn’t help smiling as he re-entered Jade’s room. His girlfriend was on the side of recovery, and the life he’d saved, he’d found, had been made better. His existence was finally, finally on the upside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I may already have two more chapters planned out as well as an idea for ~2 more after those. Fun.


	3. Alone Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place ~2-3 months before the events of Savin' Me and ~4-5 months before How To Save A Life, it's intended to be John and Dave retelling their story.

_i'm sorry, jane, i really am._  
 _i cant stay here any more, i have to get out, i have to find jade._  
 _find me when you walk out._  
 _-john_

He left the note on her bedside table, biting back the urge to cry, and grabbed his bag.  
He spared his sister a final backwards glance before he slipped out of the window.

He scurried across the roof, controlling his breathing carefully. A quick check of the time declared it was nearing midnight; he forced himself to speed up.

He reached the tracks just in time, the train slowed to enter the covered station and he leapt toward it. His lucky jump landed him on a carriage, clinging to a set of rickety ladders and he scrambled up them as the train began to pick up speed again, wind buffeting him. He knew there was a tunnel coming, but he pulled himself on top regardless, stopping for only a moment before he scrambled to his feet, charging down the carriages to reach the one he wanted.  
He ducked just in time to avoid being decapitated, flattening himself against the carriage roof.

A little shimmying and a lot of patience later, John slid open the door to the carriage. It was a luggage carriage, but almost empty. He knew the staff carriage was on the very end of the train, but he'd never seen it in use.

John swung himself into the carriage and slid the door shut, only when it locked closed did he allow himself to sit and breathe.  
Except he was breathing too fast, he felt his rationality dripping away from him without giving it a name, and a few moments later the pain started. It seeped through his body from his heart, ice cold freezing his veins in a blossoming circuit of agony. His body locked up as the pain spread, arms and fingers stiff and hard to move, he clawed weakly at his shirt.  
It took almost a full minute for John to realise what was happening. Once he knew, he felt the pain lessen slightly, and set about working on his breathing.

The panic attack took a few minutes to subside, and left John feeling drained enough to make him curl up by the boxes and sleep, his arms wrapped tightly around his bag.

What woke him was clattering, and a string of colourful words, spewed in a southern American accent.  
More clattering came as John forced himself awake, shakily pushing himself up to peer over at the door, which had been opened and closed again.  
He was met with the sight of a tall, pale guy who appeared to be around John's age.  
The stranger removed his shades, tucked them safely in his pocket, and then buried his head in his hands, clenching his fingers in almost-white hair.  
John felt a twinge of sympathy, and got to his feet, but before he even had his balance, the other passenger of the carriage was up. The stranger adopted a fighting pose and slammed on his shades so quickly that John didn't even see his eyes.  
John held his hands up, showing he didn't intend any harm, and the stranger slowly relaxed his pose.  
"John Egbert." John greeted, carefully offering a hand.  
"Dave." The stranger shook warily before moving past John to sit against the boxes. John joined him, sitting opposite Dave as the latter unpacked, "No last name?"  
"Can't tell you, John, it's top secret." he smirked in response, but John didn't miss the falter in his voice.  
Neither did Dave, apparently, as he looked deliberately away from John, turning his gaze instead to the bag he was fiddling with. John resisted the urge to pry, instead silently holding a hand out towards Dave, he was pretty sure he was crying again. He wasn't quite sure what he aimed to achieve, but Dave took his hand without a word and they sat for a few minutes, both comforted by a friendly touch.  
When they were calm enough, Dave shifted to sit next to John, leaning his head back against the boxes as he asked John for his story. John complied, though not before bargaining with the shades-clad blond. John's story for his.

"Alright, well. Me and my three siblings, Jake, Jane and Jade were born- or adopted, one of the two- into a family. It was okay, I guess. Our 'Mother' was nice enough to me and Jane, but she wasn't... nice to the others there? Jade and Jake always had problems with her, because they were stubborn. Me and Jane kind of went along with it." He paused to grin at Dave, "Jane and Jake are older than me and Jade, Jade is my twin sister. A few months ago, just after we moved here from America, Jade and Jake disappeared together, saying they'd run away. Batterwitch- our 'Mother'- got really upset and distant. You know," He paused again to swallow the lump in his throat, "I think she really did care about them. She started fast-tracking all these 'secret' plans, and expected me and Jane to help her. But she was trying to take over the world, and I- I love her, but I couldn't be a part of that. And! I missed Jade! So I left Jane a note and here I am." He splayed his arms in a "Ta-dah!" fashion, smiling weakly at Dave.  
Dave's first reaction was, "Your mother is Betty Crocker?"

After settling the fact that John's mother was indeed Betty Crocker (Although neither could figure out what the appeal of the English weather as compared to America,) Dave reluctantly started on his story.

" Right, well, mine ain't as interesting as yours. My dad's name is Broderick, I just called him Bro, 'cause he's more like a brother than a father. Anyhow, Bro an' his liking for fireworks and smuppet porn got us kicked outta our old apartment in Houston, so Bro went 'Fuck this noise' and brought us over here. Don't know what the fuck he did, but suddenly shit's goin' down again." Dave huffed a sigh, shaking ever so slightly, "Four times in the past month they attacked us, the last time was on the station platform whilst Bro was tryna get me out of there to make me safe." Dave shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. John stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. "Shit"

Shouts interrupted their daze, they came from outside, and John hurried to the sliding door.  
Almost as soon as it was open, they saw the cause of the ruckus; the town they were about to travel through was ablaze with hot-headed residents chasing a small-framed teen.  
"Nice to see homophobia is alive and well." Dave grimaced as their blurred shouts began to form words.  
"Yeah, get ready." John grunted in reply as they neared the teen.  
"Need a lift?"  
"Uh, yes. Please."  
Luckily for both the teen and the other boys, the train had slowed to navigate through the small town. John and Dave grasped an arm each and pulled, their rescuee slid easily into the carriage, and Dave slammed the door shut behind him.

"Thanks." the teen mumbled, voice muffled by the floor.  
"Must be the night for it." John grinned "Running away."  
"The, uh, full moon usually is." his answer came as the teen sat up, "My name is, uh, Tavros."  
"John"  
"Dave."  
"Nice to meet you." Tavros gave them a shaky smile, fingers tapping a rhythm on his arm. Dave could tell that it was to occupy himself.  
"So what brings you to our humble home?" Dave smirked,  
"Well, uh, the mob might give you an idea." Tavros returned with a hint of snark.  
"Ooh, we caught ourselves a sassy one."  
"Sassymon," John corrected with a wink at Tavros, "Who do you digivolve into?"  
Tavros' expression of utter bewilderment sent John into a laughing heap whilst Dave held onto him, snickering softly into his own hand.

In the time it took John and Dave to calm down, Tavros had hefted his single bag over to the boxed area and settled it in a corner.  
"Dude," John peered past the boxes as Tavros rifled through the rucksack, "Is that a ukulele case?"  
Tavros jumped at John's interruption, but withdrew the case regardless, "And ukulele"  
"Holy shit!" John spun away from Dave, turning instead to properly face Tavros. "Can you play something?"  
The question was asked at the same time as Dave said, "And I thought I was being original bringing my guitar."  
"What the shit?" John groaned into his palms, "I wanted to bring my instrument, but I can't haul a huge-ass grand piano."  
"Oh," Tavros produced a phone and tapped for a moment, "Here."  
John took the phone that was handed to him, and after a few moments of silence, "Is this a keyboard app?" though it quite obviously was.  
"Uh, yeah. It's no grand piano, but it's better than, um, nothing. Uh, isn't it?" Tavros looked hopeful at the idea that he had helped.  
"Thank you." And John was lost, tapping away on the phone, fragments of tunes resonating within the carriage.

"Guys here." John handed a sheet of chords to the other occupants of the carriage.  
"Oh, wow, did you figure this out by, um, ear?" Tavros gazed at the page.  
"Yeah, it's kinda always been my talent." John awkwardly scratched at his neck. Dave pulled his guitar onto his shoulder and began to play. Taking the hint, Tavros joined in. After a few seconds, John cottoned on, and began to tap at the piano keys on Tavros' phone.  
The trio played until the end of the sheet and stopped in a clamour of quiet whooping and banging instruments, leaving John let out a proud sigh. "That was pretty good."  
"Well it was your, um, sheet music."  
"Can you write more?" Dave questioned,  
"Do you have a song in mind?" John replied.  
"Yeah. Maybe this is what we can do whilst we're here, waiting." Dave leaned back with his suggestion.  
"Whilst we're, um, alone?" Tavros chipped in, and John smiled as he corrected him,  
"Whilst we're alone together."


	4. Nothing Left To Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was only hours away from collapsing again, and he knew it. But he couldn’t stay away, something about the orderly lines of the train tracks sucked him in.  
> If he collapsed now, he would collapse onto the tracks. If a train happened to come along, well, he’d be a goner. But he couldn’t pull himself away.  
> Maybe it was fate, destiny? Or maybe it was a death wish. In the palm of his hand, he held his last tea light, blazing with the short-lived flame that would grant him sight in this darkness. He felt blind, anyhow, in the night or the day. His hair was matted and his clothes torn from the various thorns he’d walked through, but he trod on as though he didn’t feel the breeze that swirled through the holes.

_‘What have you done?’_

The thought ricocheted around his battered head as he stared down at the red stains on his hands. His gaze shifted up, trembling, to meet the sight he didn’t want to see. Two of his friends- if you could have ever called them friends- that now lay on the floor. Their blood was a splash of colour beneath them, and bright bruises were already blossoming on the neck of the older victim. Gamzee stared at his hands for a few more seconds, almost unbelieving. There was no way he could have done this, no way! But as he focused on the cat-like attire of the younger victim, he remembered flashes of it. The beginning of the withdrawl was hazy, but he remembered it.

He never should have had to deal with that alone, but with Kurloz fled and his father a violent mess, Gamzee had no option but to. Even if he’d wanted to approach his friends for support, he couldn’t have. His father had locked him in, and for almost a month he had tried so, so hard to escape. He didn’t know that, as he sunk further into his withdrawl, he would grow smarter, more violent and more capricious. He also didn’t realise that the lack of drugs would stop him from remembering.

Blood pooled around his shoe, and he heard a distant shout, but he couldn’t turn away from the beaten duo. “Nepeta?” he breathed, pushing her gently with his palm. She rolled slightly, but didn’t wake, so Gamzee turned his attention to Equius instead. He brushed his bloodstained fingers over his friend’s neck, inspecting the bruises, and pressed gently in an attempt to find a pulse, anything that would show that Equius was still alive. He pulled away trembling as he failed.  
The shouts grew louder, and Gamzee came to the realisation that he couldn’t stay here. As the first person rounded the corner, he turned on his heel and fled.

 

He’d never run so fast in his life as he did then, spending mere minutes at his house as he gathered only the bare minimum of necessary stuff, mainly food. He heard his front door crash open as he was pushing clothes into his bag from his upstairs room, and the shouts of people swarming. He knew they were blocking the front and back doors, and the only option he had was…  
He gulped deeply  and pulled himself over to his window. They weren’t out on the back yet, he still had a chance. Trembling, he climbed out of the window onto the thin sill below, holding tight to the frame for only a split second before jumping.  
A shred of knowledge wormed its way to the front of his mind and he threw his bag, mid-air, and rolled when he landed. The bag had landed a few feet ahead of him, and he grabbed it as he ran, vaulting over the fence.

 

He ran without knowing where he was going. Soon, he slowed to a walk, knowing that the town he had left behind would soon give up looking for him when they didn’t find him within their boundaries. He just hoped that Nepeta and Equius would be cared for, and he cried as he walked.

 

He travelled for a week, walking without aim, he only slept twice, when he collapsed from exhaustion. Both times he was lucky enough to be sheltered from major threats, and the animals around him either stayed well away or guarded his sleeping form. (He was pretty sure the goat had dragged him into the covered barn.)

 

He was only hours away from collapsing again, and he knew it. But he couldn’t stay away, something about the orderly lines of the train tracks sucked him in.  
If he collapsed now, he would collapse onto the tracks. If a train happened to come along, well, he’d be a goner. But he couldn’t pull himself away.  
Maybe it was fate, destiny? Or maybe it was a death wish. In the palm of his hand, he held his last tea light, blazing with the short-lived flame that would grant him sight in this darkness. He felt blind, anyhow, in the night or the day. His hair was matted and his clothes torn from the various thorns he’d walked through, but he trod on as though he didn’t feel the breeze that swirled through the holes.

 

He followed the track as it wound around sharp bends, when the clattering of an approaching train reached his ears, slow and steady to manoeuvre itself without derailing, and he stood back to watch it.  
As the coaches passed him, the thought hit him, he could travel on this train. On a cargo carriage at the back, maybe? Yes. That was perfect.  
The end of the train approached and he knew he only had one shot to get a hold of the ladder set he could see.  
 _‘Ready…’_ He reached out, _‘Go.’_ His fingers snagged a bar, and he ran alongside the train to keep up as he pulled himself towards the ladders. His other hand met the opposite bar, and one last tug had him clinging safely to the ladders, breathing heavily with exhaustion. His head spun, and suddenly he no longer wanted to die. He wanted to get inside the cargo carriage, he wanted to be safe.

Holding tightly to the ladder with one hand, he used the other to fiddle with the door. After a few tries, the door slid back just enough for Gamzee to slide himself into the carriage.  
He didn’t expect to be faced with three teenage boys playing Go Fish, and that alone was enough to make him collapse.

 

He awoke several hours later and found himself nestled by some boxes. As he sat up, a thin blanket fell off of him, and he stared at it for a moment before an unfamiliar voice made his head flick up, “Welcome back.”  
“Thanks.” He scratched at the back of his neck as he shakily crawled over to where his obvious saviours sat, still playing card games. One of the teenagers, a dark-haired guy with glasses, gathered up the cards and dealt them out again to all four of them.  
“Dave, your threes.” The dealer began the game, and Dave threw two cards his way before addressing Gamzee, “I’m Dave. That’s John,” The dealer gave a quick wave before tucking the cards into his hand, “And that’s Tavros.” The final player, a dark-skinned, small-framed teen waved shyly at him. “Now give me your fives.”

Initially, they were quiet as they played, but after a few long minutes of silence, Tavros spoke up.  
“So, uh, what’s your name? Why are you, um, here?”  Gamzee paused, considering the truth before replying,  
“Gamzee Makara, I ran away.” He said simply, offering no further explanation. Tavros nodded understandingly, realising that he didn’t want to talk about it. “What about you, motherfucker?”  
“Tavros Nitram, I was ran out of town for being gay.” Gamzee noted that the smaller teen was drumming quietly on his arm with four fingers. “Didn’t mean to make you nervous brother.”  
“Huh? Oh, don’t mind, uh, that.” Tavros smiled shakily at him, “It’s okay.”  
“If you say so. Got any fours?”  
“Go fish.”

 

The game ended with Gamzee losing spectacularly, and John and Dave warring it out for a solid five minutes before Tavros owned them both. Gamzee laughed with Tavros at the looks on their face, slinging an arm around the smaller teen’s shoulders. Tavros froze for a second, and Gamzee had half an apology out  of his mouth before Tavros smiled at him and  wound an arm around Gamzee’s waist, and then continued to snicker at John and Dave.  
Gamzee grinned outwardly, but had to try so damn hard to stop the red blush from creeping across his face.

 

Tavros slept before the rest of them. As soon as they were sure he was asleep, John and Dave cornered Gamzee.  
“We saw that.” John pointed vaguely at the area where they’d been playing.  
“What was there to see, brother?” Gamzee shrugged at him.  
“I don’t know,” Dave rolled his eyes behind his shades in response, “The fact that you went fuckin’ bright red when Tav touched you?”  
“I did?” Gamzee winced, he wasn’t as great at hiding it as he thought he was.  
“And so did he.” John chipped in brightly. Dave snickered as he stepped back in perfect unison with John, “Aww, cute.”  
“Young love.”  
They really bounced off of one another, Gamzee observed. Great chemistry.

As they let him relax again, he asked, “So how long have you motherfuckers been together?” which resulted in Dave choking on air and John having a laughing fit. Through said laughs, he managed to squeeze out a “No homo-” before collapsing again. Dave recovered first, explaining that they had only met a few weeks beforehand. “Why did you think we were dating?” he sounded more incredulous than curious, but Gamzee noticed that John was trying to stifle his laughs so that he could hear the answer.  
“You peeps just seem to work.” He scrunched up one side of his face, “You bounce off each other.” John gave Dave a weird look, and then laughed it off. “Friendship works like that.”

 

“So can you, uh, play an instrument?” Tavros questioned Gamzee the following morning.  
“I was bitchtits wicked at drums when I was a li’l kid, brother.” Gamzee grinned at Tavros as he handed over a cake.  
“Not something you can, um, take with you, really.”  
“Nah, but I brought my sticks.” Gamzee rifled in his bag for a few moments before producing the slender objects. “I can probably work with boxes.”  
“Show me?” Tavros looked up at him hopefully.

Gamzee started out carefully, tapping the various sides of the box pile closest to him. He slowly began to build up momentum, drawing Dave and John’s attention, and although it wasn’t ideal, it still sounded pretty damn fantastic. When he finished, Tavros looked expectantly over at John, who leafed through a wad of paper and waved a sheet at Gamzee.  
“What the motherfuck is this?” he asked as he took the sheet.  
“This is what we’ve been doing together whilst we’re here.” John grinned at him.  
“Music?”  
“Just play.” Dave groaned at him, shifting the guitar up slightly.  
Gamzee began, plucking gently at the strings, and Dave joined in with Tavros a few moments later. They made their way through the song, repeated it twice and then came to a clattering end.  
“Wow, that sounded, uh, much better!” Tavros commented.  
“The beat was exactly what we needed.” John nodded thoughtfully.  
“You do this often, bros?” Gamzee asked as he tucked his sticks back into his bag.  
“Whenever we get, uh, bored.” Tavros smiled at him. Gamzee gave him a grin, and then he made his way over to the door. He slid it open a few inches and sat himself down on the floor, staring out at the landscape flashing alongside the train.

Tavros watched him for a few moments, and then gestured a question at John and Dave, who both shrugged in return.  They waited for a few minutes in silence, but when Tavros noticed the spatter of tears, he couldn’t hold himself away. He planted himself quietly next to his new friend, reaching out to lay his hand over Gamzee’s. The latter’s skin was hot to the touch, whereas Tavros was cold, and the contrast brought Gamzee’s gaze to meet Tavros’ own soft look.  
“Talk if you want to.”  
“I’m here because I ran away.” Gamzee began, and delved into his story.

He was only young when he realised that he wasn’t ‘normal,’ that he wasn’t straight. At first, he thought he was bisexual, but as he grew he realised; that wasn’t the case. His older brother had been understanding, accepting, and Gamzee had gone to him when he had no-where else to turn. His father, on the other hand, constantly threatened and berated him for being gay, it was wrong and unnatural. He abused Kurloz in a similar fashion, until his eldest son had enough and fled the town, leaving Gamzee to deal with his father by himself.  
The Highblood was his business name, and he was a very important business person. His image meant everything, so he didn’t really care what happened to Gamzee so long as he put on a smile for the cameras. Gamzee turned away from his father when he finally realised he would find no support, and instead turned to drugs. He became calm and amiable, and he no longer reacted to his father’s threats. He got along better with people, Nepeta and Equius included.  
Unfortunately, he couldn’t hide his addiction from his father for long, and when The Highblood found out, he was furious. He locked Gamzee in his room, alone, and left him there to go into withdrawl.  
  
Gamzee explained to Tavros that he’d slowly gone insane, and began to lose his memory and control of himself. He explained how he’d come to his senses to find his two friends dead, with Nepeta bleeding profusely, and the bruises on Equius’ neck from where Gamzee suspected he had strangled him.

Towards the end of his retelling, Gamzee began to cry, shaking with the force of his sobs. He soldiered on through it until he reached the point where he climbed onto the train, when he allowed himself to completely collapse. Tavros shuffled closer on his knees to hug him, shushing him gently. They sat together in that way for a few minutes, moving only when Tavros began to lose feeling in his legs  and shifted to sort of half-sit on Gamzee instead.  
The carriage was silent past Gamzee’s resigned sobs. In the end, Tavros thought, there was nothing left to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I'm sorry uvu  
> There's a few more train chapters (Two or three!) and then I'll try to link it all up for you.  
> Chains and whispers y'know.


	5. A Thousand Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’d always joked that he had lives to spare. Spare. She didn’t think he would ever be like this- so weak. Fragile. At her hands.
> 
> Hands. Hands scooped him up. Carried him inside. Inside. Danger. The scent of predatory senses lingered in the air. Not safe. Not safe.
> 
> She carried him out of the room. Out of his home. Aimless. One foot in front of the other. Once, twice. Run. Run.
> 
> Run, Peixes.

One foot in front of the other, it was the only thing she could focus on. She had to. To. To.

Phrases repeated in her mind like a broken record. Like a robot. She felt broken. Broken. Broken.

Step once, twice, once, twice. Run. Run. Step- Run. Once- Run.

One. Two. Three.

The building appeared on the horizon and she unconsciously quickened. Once.

Up the stairs taking two at a time- why did he have to live so high? Twice.

She kicked the door in. Step.

She called his name. Run. Vault.

Over the sofa to the balcony where she could smell his blood. Broken.

His name spilled from her lips again tasting bitter like the blood on the decking as her fingers dipped into the silk of it. One hand went to her side, to the bag, the other pressed against his skin. Still alive. Still alive. She had to. To.

To save him. To save him.

Her hands shook but she worked deftly, expertly, her hair sticking to the blood on the deck. Sew. The needle moved nimbly when worked by her fingers. She cleaned gently with water and patted the newly stitched area dry. He was out cold. Out. Out.

They’d always joked that he had lives to spare. Spare. She didn’t think he would ever be like this- so weak. Fragile. At her hands.

Hands. Hands scooped him up. Carried him inside. Inside. Danger. The scent of predatory senses lingered in the air. Not safe. Not safe.

She carried him out of the room. Out of his home. Aimless. One foot in front of the other. Once, twice. Run. Run.

Run, Peixes.

She darted through streets. Her skills walled off by the burden of him. He was warm against her chest. His shirt was stained with blood. Blood. Blood.

She had promised him. He had promised her. Promises. Promises. They would never let each other get hurt. Hurt. He was hurt. Dying. Needed attention. Attention she couldn’t give him.

Home. Home. She called it home and that was where she walked but he was her home. He was familiar. Welcoming. Friendly. Warm. Home.

The door slid open and she charged down the hall with the word ‘Help’ spilling from her lips. Like a broken record. Broken. Broken. Broken.

Attention. Attention she couldn’t give him. She called for her parent. Parent. She had not been home in years. Years. Not since her mother had taken in the four siblings. Their dark hair. They were not like her. Her. Her. She left him there. Help. She left him there on the table. Stable. Stable.

 

She hoped her mother would help. She couldn’t. Couldn’t. Couldn’t lose him. Not him. Not Sollux.  
“Feferi?” her name was called. She glanced over her shoulder. Tears. Save him. Save him. She fled.

Jane leant out of the window to call after her. She was gone. Gone. Gone with the train.

She clung to the iron, hot tears being swept away as she rested her face against the cold metal. Metal. Metallic and bitter like the blood. Blood on her hands. Voice. A Voice. Hands on her arm, pulling, pulling. Doors closing. World swimming. Concerned expressions. She looks up. It’s him. Him. John. One of them. The four siblings. John. He said her name and she needed him. He was the closest thing to home she could find. Find. Find. 

“John.”  
“Feferi, what happened?”  
“John.”  
“Feferi are you okay?”  
“Egbert.”  
“Dave, get some water or something.”  
“Egbert.” Like a broken record she repeated his name until the cool clean liquid washed over her tongue. She swallowed. Took the bottle. Washed the blood off of her hands at the door whilst Tavros held the back of her shirt to stop her falling.

“If he dies it’s my fault.” She breathed the words as she clung to John. He stroked her hair gently, careful not to get his fingers tangled in the orange curls. He didn’t ask who she was talking about. She didn’t want to say his name again, it felt blasphemous to her lips, but at the same time she did not want his death to be attributed to the last time her tongue formed the duo of syllables.

She was calming down now.

She was tired. So tired.

They nestled her safely in a corner, closed in by boxes because the open space scared her. They took shifts to stay awake, leaning against the train wall as it vibrated gently, talking almost constantly to sooth her even whilst she slept. She was a skilled assassin. Death was in her job description. She had killed many to stop the rage of her boss. She was accustomed to the colour and feel and even the taste of blood, to fighting and killing others. Still, she called herself a healer. She hated it, the death and murder and killing but it paid out and kept her safe and she was good at her job. And she had Eridan to help her.

If he found out she’d been with him, he’d… he’d…

She was crying again and Gamzee boosted John over the boxes so he could curl up with his adopted sister and shush her quietly.

 

It took a few days to coax Feferi out of her box-fort. Up until then, John hopped back and forth over the boxes with food and water. They worked the boxed down until they could play card games with the others across the boxes. Feferi favoured the hearts. She won Go Fish four times, each time ending on the two of hearts, claiming the cards from the others with a smile that suggested to John that she was hiding a reason for her choice.

Feferi became their healer. Her supplies and skill served them well as they took their third loop around the country on the train, each time avoiding the staff by hoisting themselves onto the roof and holding one another there.

 Feferi taught them how to do that, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp I wrote up the rosemary chapter and then i remembered that oh shit yeah i need feferi's chapter and this happened.


	6. It's Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shadow acquired his target, confirmation spilling from his mouth as he took aim. Rose was in his crosshairs, a perfect shot through the head as she crouched, or the stomach if she stood. Either way, she would die and he would get paid.  
> The trigger was pulled. Eridan thought it would be an easy kill.  
> He was so very, very wrong.

A flick through the shelves was all that was needed to make her cry that day; she was so exhausted, something as simple as nothing to read set her off. But she dried her eyes and carried on with her search. If she was very lucky, there would be a good, hefty book that she hadn’t read. Maybe something by one of her favourite authors.

A hand was laid on her shoulder when she allowed the first tears to fall to the floor, and she turned to see violet eyes that were all too welcome to her. She exclaimed Rose’s name in a whisper, as loud as she dared in the almost-silence of the dark library. Rose embraced her gently in greeting, and then began to pull. Without hesitation, she followed to the other end of the shelves, where Rose whispered her recommendation and took the book from the shelf. She took it gratefully. There wasn’t much in the library she hadn’t read, and it was mostly uninteresting, but Rose… Rose had always been good at spotting obscure books on high shelves. As such, she was a trustworthy source for recommendations.  
Rose whispered into the darkness, the silver-gold of her voice wrapping her girlfriend in the knowledge of night. She checked the book out and the two fled the dark library, leaving the lanterns to burn out.

 

She took an entire street of walking to realise Rose was crying. Her voice was low and worried as she enquired why, what was wrong?  
Rose sobbed freely as she hesitated, and then she confessed- she was being kicked out of her home. Her father had found out about her sexuality. He’d had enough of her.  
Rose had always called him ‘father,’ but everything her girlfriend had ever told her about him suddenly came together like puzzle pieces; Rose’s father was various degrees of abusive, homophobic, and generally an asshole. She stopped and pulled Rose into a hug, and the younger girl cried against her without restraint.  
Kanaya had neglected to tell Rose that she had been homeless for three weeks. It wasn’t long, she knew that, but the adjustment had been so sudden. That was because…

 

They had to skip town. She knew they had to skip town.   
She and Rose  weaved through the backstreets to the latter’s house. Rose knew better than to question her. Under the street light, before they entered the house, they kissed.

 

She discovered more in that small period of time than in years of knowing Rose. The man she called ‘father’ was not, biologically, her father- he was her step-father. Rose’s mother had told her that her biological father, Broderick, had run away when she was very young. Her mother had remarried.  
Rose told Kanaya how she’d thought she had a brother, and her mother denied it. Rose guessed she was right, the memories she had of him didn’t seem solid.

Rose continued talking in a rush like this until they finished their packing- they were lucky Rose’s step-father was not home, only her mother, who presented them with a pack full of food and water. Rose cried as she hugged her mother. Kanaya continued her packing.  
They were soon ready to leave, and Rose promised she would call if she ever got the chance.  
They escaped out of the back door as Rose’s father arrived.  
The sounds of glass and ceramics shattering as they were thrown against a wall did nothing to drown out the screams and shouts, and the noise haunted them as they hurdled the fence and ran towards the train station.

 

The shadow acquired his target, confirmation spilling from his mouth as he took aim. Rose was in his crosshairs, a perfect shot through the head as she crouched, or the stomach if she stood. Either way, she would die and he would get paid.

The trigger was pulled. Eridan thought it would be an easy kill.  
He was so very, very wrong.

Kanaya shoved her girlfriend out of the way, too slow for the shot to completely miss. It snagged Rose’s arm as she fell, and Kanaya snatched the arrow up with a call for the would-be assassin to show himself.

Eridan had never been one to disappoint. He sprung from the shadows, unsheathing the dagger at his waist.  
He crept forwards, glaring lowly at the two girls. He took in Kanaya’s defensive stance. He took in Rose’s defenceless position. And then he launched himself forwards to attack.  
His first target was the one he was paid to kill; he swung for Rose, but Kanaya was there to block using the arrow he had fired. She stood protectively over Rose with an almost territorial growl. Over her shoulder, she tossed the word, “Run.”  
Eridan slashed at her instead. This time, she was not quick enough to block the short, neat thrust.  
The dagger was buried in her stomach.  
The only positive was that her hand- the one holding the arrow- came down hard on her attacker’s wrist, forcing him to let go as she struck nerves.

Panting with the effort of restraining shock, Kanaya stared down Eridan and his deep violet eyes, watching his resolve crumble. As he turned to flee, Kanaya collapsed, falling backwards to the ground.  
With her breath sticking in her throat, the blonde-haired girl inspected her girlfriend’s limp form, tucking strands of hair behind her ear as she leaned over her mouth.  
Kanaya was still breathing, it was shallow and fast, but she was still breathing.   
Rose mentally congratulated her for landing on her back, but now Kanaya’s life was in Rose’s hands.

Slim fingers darted towards the wooden hilt, but froze centimetres away, shaking. Her medical training reminded her that the blade may be stopping major arteries from bleeding out.

The sound of rattling reached her, and she cursed. She slung Kanaya’s bag over her shoulder and scooped her girlfriend’s form up carefully. She began to run before she even saw the train, and as it drew alongside her she was pleasantly surprised to find that the carriage she wanted had the sliding door flung open. The people inside did not defer her, instead, it encouraged her. She threw Kanaya’s form the short distance into the cabin and prepared to jump herself- but she was running out of distance to jump from. Stranger’s hands pulled Kanaya to safety and deposited her in the lap of a long haired girl wearing pink. The same hands reached out towards Rose and she leant towards them as she jumped off of the very end of the platform.

Her fingertips brushed theirs, and she felt them slipping past her as she fell towards the train tracks and certain death.

 

A tugging sensation at her back jolted her to a halt. She lightly hit the side of the train, but she was no longer falling.  
Rough hands tugged at her and she fell into an empty carriage- This one was not a cargo carriage. It was furnished for passengers.

The two attendants frowned gently at her. She noted that one was small, and cat-like, and her expression was more concern than disdain. It was vice-versa for her partner, who was tall and powerful, seemingly aloof. She let out a huff of air as the smaller one scrabbled for a blanket to put around her, and the taller made his way to the door leading to the cargo carriage.

The stowaways flinched at the sudden bright light as said door was thrown open. They physically withdrew from the source and the silhouette of an intimidating attendant.   
Gamzee burst into tears as he adjusted to see through the bright light.

 

Dave reflected on this as he set up the stage a few days later. It was what Rose took everywhere with her. Light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm two chapters in two days  
> but only cause Feferi's was needed for this one and i wrote this one first.  
> They basically make a full chapter word count wise together so.


	7. Titanium

Over the shoulder she shifted her bag and ran, feet pounding as shots rang after her. She ducked and rolled, under a branch and over a fence as fast as she could climb. A bullet burst through the chain link metal beside her, she had only a few seconds to get to the other side before the electric buzzed through the fence and fried her.

She'd had enough. After her friend, almost a mother to her, had been killed, she'd had enough. All the wardens and helpers had were sharp tongues and cruel mouths. Criticism after criticism after criticism and she felt like she was shrinking, almost beginning to believe them. She reminded herself- **THEY WERE WRONG**. She scrawled it on her wall, her arm, her work. She hid pens to keep when they took them from her. She was _Aradia Megido_ , she was _time itself_. They would never break her.

Bullets tore after her but she kept running, zig-zagging across the forest floor. A searing heat in her shoulder told her she'd been hit, but not directly. The bullet had grazed her. A lucky shot.

Ducking, running, rolling to the train tracks, the scent of dust and brick filling her, leaving hope in its wake. Her path was illuminated by it, she ran, a sailing jump taking her across the tracks and her fingers clung to concrete as she missed the other side by inches. Cat jump, up she went, only to descend onto the tracks again as aggressive shouts grew closer. She hid in the entrance to the tunnel, now feeling the fear of being caught. The shouts drew closer, and she began to feel the ground beneath her tremble. The trembling grew, a roar building to accompany it, and then she was illuminated by a train. It had stopped in the station, and Aradia was all too quick to clutch the side, fingers wrapping around a metal ladder and bracing herself whilst the doors slid closed, preparing for the sudden movement she knew was coming. The train picked up speed and beside her the door slid open with a call, her name, "Aradia!"  
A hand was offered and Aradia took a second to study its owner. After discerning they were no enemy, she inched her hand off the ladder and took the stranger's offered one. With surprising strength for such a small person, the stranger pulled her into the safety of the carriage and slammed the door closed.

The carriage was well lit. There was boxes. In one corner, she spied a pile of bags. The small stranger wiped her forehead dramatically. "Aradia, are mew okay?" the cat pun struck at a memory, and she concentrated on digging it up. Green clothes. A too-big coat that dripped over hands often curled into fists. A name. "Nepeta?" she broached, smoothing her red shirt. Nepeta grinned at her. "You remember me?" she asked. Aradia hugged her in response.   
"How's Sollux?" Aradia asked once they had both settled down. Nepeta's expression darkened.

"Aradia..." she reached out to her friend. Sollux and Aradia had always been close. They swore they would get married one day. When Aradia had been taken to that... place, Sollux swore he'd see her again.  
"What?"  
"Sollux is dead."

Disbelief was written across Aradia's face, in the blank expression she drew. "Excuse me?"  
"He- He died, Aradia. He was thirteen, nobody efur figured out what happened to him." Nepeta watched it sink in, and how Aradia's face crumpled as she tried not to cry. All she ever wanted after she left, was for Sollux to be safe, to be happy. As Aradia began to cry, Nepeta shuffled over, patting her on the back. "I'm so sorry."  
"It's not- not your fault." Aradia drew a shuddering breath. "Thank you for telling me."  
"There are others!" Nepeta remembered suddenly, "Other's you'll know. Gamzee and Equius are here."  
Aradia brightened dully, remembering the names. She didn't really talk to Gamzee, but Equius... She remembered Equius used to have a bit of a crush on her. It had bordered on creepy. It wasn't really his fault, he didn't know how to communicate his emotions or anything in general, not properly. It would be nice to see him again. She just hoped he wasn't still creepy.   
"Stay here," Nepeta stood, brushing herself down, "I'll go and pull them off stage." She flashed a bright grin before scampering through the carriages, heading down the train.

She returned almost quarter of an hour later with literally everyone in tow. Gamzee and Equius flanked both sides of the small crowd, and the others were gathered behind them. Dave peered over Nepeta's shoulder at Aradia, who sat with her legs tucked underneath her, blinking at the crowd with adorable menace. He knew they were going to be fucking legendary friends.  
Aradia scrabbled to her feet as Equius and Gamzee called her name in unison. Nepeta, together with the boys, enveloped Aradia in a group hug that lasted a good few minutes before they broke apart and sat down. Gamzee handed out food, which Aradia found herself tearing into ravenously. She hadn't realised how long it'd been since she last properly ate.

Introductions were passed quietly around the circle. The atmosphere was subdued, a comfortable, uncomfortable quietness that filled the room. Tavros carefully asked Aradia for her story, and she exhaled loudly as she retold it.

She was seventeen now. For ten years, she'd been in a mental institution- she said she could see ghosts. She told them about Sollux, their young relationship. She told them about the murder and criticism and her escape.  
Feferi started at Sollux's name. Aradia made a mental note to pull her aside.

As most of the stowaways settled to sleep, Aradia plopped herself next to Feferi.  
"You knew Sollux."  
"I know Sollux." Feferi corrected.  
"But he's dead. Isn't he?" Aradia stared hopefully at Feferi. The ex-heiress stared back.  
"This is... classified information. Understand?"  
"Of course."  
"Sollux Captor was a spy, recruited at the age of thirteen. His death was staged to remove suspicion and I've been working alongside him for four years." She recited the information mechanically, "A month or so ago, he- he was attacked. I tried to fix him up, I promise, but he was too badly hurt for me to do it."  
"So..." Aradia breathed as Feferi took in a breath. "He is dead."  
"No. I took him to my mother's home." She spat the word 'mother' like it was venom, "She's a skilled healer, and her adopted children are too. Or at least, one of them is. The others apparently ran away." She gestured here at John. "He's still alive, I hope, but I've been here ever since."  
"When are you getting off?"  
"I have an assignment in London." Feferi stat back, wincing. Aradia nodded.   
"I think it would be a good idea for us all to get off in London." The fates smiled on her as she vocalised what she had read for the first time in years.  
"You know, I think you might be right."  
"Feferi?"  
"Mhm?"  
"Thank you." Aradia hugged the assassin gently, "Thank you for taking care of Sollux."


	8. Warriors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Look." Karkat levelled with her, "If there's someone after you, you've left a hefty trail for yourself, so I'll be the great fucking samaritan and tell you I can protect you."  
> "What do you mean?"  
> "Just get your shit packed up and move. I'll wake shitpecker dicklark over there."

Jake was heavy on her shoulders, she pulled him along the road with one hand anchoring him to her, the other pressed hard against a sluggishly bleeding wound. What a fool, what a fool, to get himself cut up so bad when they had so far to go. They were supposed to be in France by now. Jake had to stop, he'd insisted they'd be safe, now they were stuck in the middle of London, Jake bleeding and she was quickly tiring.

She had to get them back to their hotel room, but the staff would call the hospital the second they saw the blood. Her quick mind devised a risky plan, and she sat Jake in a corner, approaching the nearest drunkard with a heavy coat and turning the charm on.  
After negotiating a price of ten pounds, she returned to her brother and tugged the coat onto him. He mumbled deliriously at her, opening his eyes a fraction. She smiled back at him, trying wildly to hide her cocktail of concern and relief. Over her shoulder again went his arm, and the final stretch towards the hotel began.

She sat him on the floor of the shower cubicle, injured side facing her. Her hands moved to make swift work, washing the wound, dabbing gently, and she reached for the needle to sew, only to meet another hand. "Move."  
Jade shifted aside, too tired, too pumped to question who he was. The stranger ducked in front of Jake, his skilled fingers worked, shaking, his own medical pack thrown open. Jake mumbled in pain- a good sign. The stranger lifted and supported Jake as Jade turned the shower on, the gentle water pressure washing the remaining blood away. After drying Jake off, the duo placed him gently on the bed to sleep.  
"How did this happen?"  
"Who are you?"  
The albino stranger and Jade asked the questions of one another in unison. Jade's glare made the stranger relent first, "My name is Karkat Vantas. I followed you on the street after you bought Vriska's coat."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah, I noticed you were a fucking idiot, and thought 'Hey I should probably help out this shitstain.'"  
"Polite."  
"What the fuck ever, how'd this happen?"  
"Jake- my brother- got drunk." this in itself was explanation enough, but she continued, "He got in a scrap with a blonde guy over something stupid- I think he said Avatar sucked?" the incredulity in her voice gave the truthful edge, and Karkat rolled his eyes, "It does."  
"Yeah, well, Jake disagrees."  
"Jake is wrong"  
"Jade Harley." Jade held our a hand. Karkat shook it and sat on the edge of the bed as his new friend made tea.  
"Why all the ludicrous secrecy?" Karkat asked before taking a gulp of the sweet tea. Jade put a hell of a lot of sugar in it, wow.  
"Jake and I were meant to be going to France, running from mother." Jade seemed unphased by the high glucose levels. "He had to stop in London, he couldn't keep shit simple."  
"Look." Karkat levelled with her, "If there's someone after you, you've left a hefty trail for yourself, so I'll be the great fucking samaritan and tell you I can protect you."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Just get your shit packed up and move. I'll wake shitpecker dicklark over there."

It took almost an hour for Jake to be compos mentis enough to move, Jade went ahead and checked them out early, Karkat helped Jake down the stairs, biting his tongue to silence his snippy Avatar comments.  
"So... Where are you taking us?"  
"My house." Karkat answered, words clipped by exhaustion, "Safe."  
"Oh? That's good." Karkat didn't miss the exasperation in her voice, and sighed, awkwardly shifting so that his hand rested on her arm, a comforting gesture. Jake groaned slightly at the movement across his back.  
"We're here." Karkat grunted, his free hand searching his pockets for his key, fumbling with the lock, and finally the door opened at his push. "Straight through- Not the first sofa, I have another fuckin' stupid asslicker there. Try further back."  
Karkat guided them to a sofa further back and deposited Jake on the sofa. "D'you want a drink?"  
"Coffee, please." Jade slumped on the floor, leaning against the sofa.  
"You might want to change out of that damn galaxy of a dress." Karkat noted as he left the room.  
Jade took his advice, carefully folding the dress and slipping it into her rucksack, which she'd had the sense to pick up. Jakes bag sat at the other end of the sofa where Karkat had dumped it.  
The persin on the other sofa stirred slightly, but didn't wake up, so Jade changed quickly into a blue-and-white shirt. She had just finished pulling up her trousers when Karkat re-entered. Three cups sat on a circular tray, and Karkat balanced this on one hand, his free hand moved the cups from the tray to their places- one on a table by the sleeping stranger, one in Jade's hands, and the final one he took before sitting next to Jade. They sat in silence, sipping, and he saw Jade smile out of the corner of his eye, "What?"  
"Hm?" Jade hummed distractedly.  
"What's with the smile?"  
"Oh- you put the right amount of sugar in." Jade beamed, '"I have a sweet tooth."  
"I could tell." Karkat grimaced.  
The other occupant of the room sat up, yawning and starting as he saw Jade and Jake on what had previously been a free sofa.  
"Sollux!" Karkat put his cup down and rushed over to the bemused stranger. Jade politely averted her eyes as Karkat wriggled Sollux's shirt up to skate his fingertips across the skin and scar underneath. Sollux batted at him and shivered. "KK, I'm fine holy thit. It'th healed, okay?"  
Karkat helped tug his yellow shirt back down, allowed Sollux to see a brief smile, and then turned, "You're okay, Harley."  
"Jade." she corrected, facing them again, "My name is Jade."  
"Yeah. Okay. Sorry." the apology shocked Jade, she'd expected Karkat to argue. But, as she watched, he seemed to slump until-  
"He'th fell athleep on me." Sollux said, alnost exasperated. Jade chuckled behind her hand, but she too was slipping off. She closed her eyes moments before Sollux sighed and pulled Karkat in, lying down to sleep.

"Jade, holy thit, wake up." Sollux's voice roused Jade from her dream, "KK needth your help."  
As the blonde hair of Sollux swam into sight, Jade's attention was drawn to the sound of scuffling.  
"By gum, unhand me you fiend!"  
"CALM THE FUCK DOWN YOU ABSOLUTE SHUDDERING CANARY."  
"Ah." Jade got to her feet, pushed between Jake and Karkat. "Now now, boys."  
"Jade!" Jake exclaimed, delighted, "Who on earth is this salty-tongued fellow?"  
"Jake, this is Karkat, and that's Sollux. Karkat helped to save you."  
"What the dickens?"  
"You got knifed, Jake,"  
"Oh, will I be okay?"  
"You fucking should be."  
"Uh. KK? I hate to burtht your bubble but I thould really be leaving." Sollux interrupted the exchange, his eyes on Karkat.  
Jade saw Karkat physically slump at the prospect, and Sollux sighed. He dropped his bag and held out his arms, allowing his smaller friend yo leap at him. Karkat wrapped his legs around Sollux's waist, and his arms momentarily rester around his neck, until Sollux hugged back and Karkat took the opportunity to lean back, take Sollux's face into his habds, and kiss him. This drifted back into a hug, and the room was silent save for Karkat's sobbing.

Sollux waved goodbye, but the guilty glimmer in his eyes told Jade he wouldn't be gone long.

Over the course of the day, Jake was treated by Karkat repeatedly, and Jade admired him for his efforts to hold back on the snippy movie comments.  
As the close of the day drew near, there was a loud banging on the door. Karkat went to answer it, and a blood-spattered Sollux dove in, with a ginger girl only moments behind him.  
"Sollux...?" Karkat asked as Sollux headed into the living room and hid in a corner, his knees drawn up to his chest. The ginger girl that followed him inclined her head politely to Karkat, then strode after him as Karkat shut the door.  
"Sollux are you okay?" Jade started forwards, only to stop dead upon catching sight of the newcomer.  
"Feferi?"  
"Jade?"  
"Holy shit-" Jade threw her arms around Feferi, and her hug was reciprocated. Karkat snuck past them and to Sollux in the corner, laying a hand over one of Sollux's. The taller one clung to him.  
"It's been years, where have you been?"  
"Oh, around. John is looking for you!" As ever, Feferi's accent shone through. Jade started-  
"John is looking for me?"  
"He was on my train! He's in London somewhere."  
"I need to find him." Jade was on her way out when Feferi caught her arm,  
"Not right now y' don't." She protested, "John is safe, he has a whole hoard of people keepin' him safe. Actually, talkin' of that," Feferi turned to where Sollux was clinging to Karkat, "Sollux, I met Aradia."  
"Aradia!? Ith the okay?"  
"She's pretty shaken but otherwise, yes."

Everything was running smoothly until Karkat tried to kiss Sollux.  
The blonde, still clinging to him, reciprocated, but it did not come without protest from Feferi.  
"Sollux, what the fuck?"  
"Thit, okay, FF I know thith lookth bad."  
"Wait, did I miss a fucking memo here?" Karkat questioned.  
"Well FF and I were dating, but then I almotht died and ended up dumped here in London."  
"You ignorant ass, I took you to the Empress' house so she could treat you!"  
"Well that'th not where I woke up!" Sollux retorted. "FF, look, I'm thorry but thith happened."  
"Ah, whatever. We were fine as partners- Eridan better not find out I was with you again."  
"He won't, he'th on an assignment in the north."  
"I know, he tried to kill Rose Lalonde and Kanaya Maryam."  
"Kanaya?" Karkat interrupted again.  
"Holy shit, everybody, shut! The fuck! Up!" Jade raised her voice across the ruckus. "Feferi, sit down."  
Feferi sat.  
"Obviously, we have a lot to catch up on, but it is late and it is dark and at least two of us here are injured."  
"But-"  
"Karkat Vantas you sit your ass down right now before I serve it to you on a plate." Jade leered until he placed himself on the floor once again, "We will sleep. Then we will catch up. And then we will find John."  
"And Aradia." Feferi added.  
"And whoever that is." Jade agreed. "But sleep first."

"Keep walking, don't stop. You'll get lost." Karkat led the party into the city. Jake remained behind at Karkat's house, too injured to venture into the city. They were connected by a chain link of hands, Karkat to Sollux, to Feferi, to Jade.  
"Straight ahead." Feferi interjected, and Karkat complied.  
There they were.  
"John!" Jade called over the crowd, "John!"  
"Aradia!" Sollux let go of Karkat and Feferi and tore through the crowd. Jade heard Sollux's name called in return, and then-  
"Jade, holy fuck." John barrelled into his twin sister, hugging her with all the power he could muster, "Jade."  
"John."  
"Kanaya, what the fuck, I haven't seen you in fuckin' years."  
"Karkat, still as salty as ever?" The duo embraced lightly.  
By this point, they were blocking a significant part of the pathway, and after a little organising, Karkat led the party of thirteen through the crowds and back to his home.

Jade seemed to be the one in command, John noticed, as she deployed segments of the crowd to different parts of Karkat's house as though she lived there herself. Karkat had no protests to this, he had taken on a quiet and sullen manner quite unlike the way that Jade had come to expect of him, Feferi, John and Jake sat on Jake's sofa, and Feferi was cleaning Jake up. Jade promised to join them. Nepeta had insisted on staying with Equius, whom Jade had placed on the armchair, and as such the smaller girl was curled on Equius' lap, wide-eyed and beaming. Rose and Kanaya had retired to the garden for some air and privacy.

"Now, we should deal with Sollux." Jade murmured to Karkat as Dave, Tavros and Gamzee were banished to the kitchen to make drinks.   
The offender in question was sat with Aradia, on his sofa, where Karkat and Jade joined them. Only Karkat sat.  
"Sollux," Jade began, tone firm, "What are you even doing with your love life?"  
"Good quethtion."  
"What's happening?" Aradia asked, almost a hum over words, her exhaustion was apparent.  
"Uh, well, I wath dating FF over there." Sollux nodded in Feferi's direction, "But after I almotht died, I woke up behind a bin on thome random London thtreet, with methy thtitcheth and a really thore thide, I thort of thought maybe the didn't love me anymore? I mean the'th a healer, and I wath thtill bleeding. They were really bad thtitcheth. And thith ith like the thecond time I've almotht died. Who'd love me after that?" Sollux seemed desperate, downcast.  
"KK found me thtumbling along and bleeding and thort of kidnapped me. I woke up here with a cup of coffee on the thide, proper thtitcheth, and KK asleep bethide me on the floor."  
"Jesus, it seems like months ago." Karkat interjected.  
"KK and I got into fighth a lot at firtht, but he'th tho needy, he'th like 'are we thtill friendth' and everytime I reply 'you athk me that LITERALLY every time' and he played it off at firtht, but I realithed he meant it and eventually I jutht kithed him to thut him up."  
Nepeta stood, strode over to Sollux. There was a split second of utter silence as everyone in the room turned to her- and CRACK. Nepeta slapped Sollux across the face, hard enough to make Jade stand for her, and Equius to step in from across the room, one arm across Nepeta, the other toward Jade, his fingertips only just brushing her shoulder. Despite his brutish appearance, Jade realised, Equius was an exceptionally gentle person.  
Behind his outstretched arm, Nepeta was fuming. Her anger didn't need to be vocalised, but she raised her voice at her victim regardless.  
"What the hell, Sollux? You purromised your life to Aradia, dated Feferi, and then cheated on her with him," she gestured at Karkat, "And THEN mew dont have the courtesy to tell eifur of them, and dump them fur Aradia?"  
"You thummed it up better than me." Sollux replied coolly, a hand to his slapped cheek.   
"You're an asshole." Nepeta strained against Equius' hold; the taller of the duo was forced to shift his position from Jade to restrain her.  
"Enough." Equius spoke for the first time since meeting Jade and her company, "You will cease this needless violence at once, Nepeta. Whilst the things that this lowblood-" he glared sideways at Sollux, "- has done are dispicable, I believe he will recieve his comeuppance."  
"But-"  
"I said enough." Equius pulled at Nepeta until she turned away.  
"Are you okay?" Jade knelt in front of Sollux. Karkat pried his hand from his cheek, and both hissed softly as they saw the red imprint that had already risen across it."  
"She has a mean slap on her, boy." Aradia shook her head gently, seemingly unphased by the commotion.

Dave, Gamzee and Tavros soon arrived with their drinks, and Jade finally sat them all in a ring on the floor, after calling Rose and Kanaya in from outside. John and Dave broke the silence by utilising their card games- though fourteen was a few too many to play go fish, and they ended up playing in teams of two.   
Once their game was over- Feferi won- Jade coughed politely to get everyone's attention.  
"My name is Jade." she began, I am John's twin sister, Jake's younger sister, and Feferi's adopted sister." Feferi waved, "Next."  
"Karkat, seventeen, saved your asses."  
"Thollux, eighteen, complete athhole. That'th me. Hi."  
"Aradia Megido, I'm an ex-asylum patient, and the childhood friend of Nepeta and Sollux."  
And so they continued, until everyone had a basic knowledge of everyone else, and the issue was brought up of where exactly they would all sleep.  
"That's... A good question, actually. Karkat grimaced, "I have a couple of doubles upstairs, a camp and a futon. And my bed."  
"The thofath make nine." Sollux nodded.   
"Alright, Canary Wharf, I can count." Karkat snapped at him. "I can find some spare blankets and all that bullshit, but we're going to have trouble."  
"No, I can handle this." Jade silenced him, studying the group. Already, numbers and names were flitting around in her head and getting pushed aside for later calculations.   
Kanaya and Rose. Check. Sollux and Karkat? No. Bad idea. Sollux could stay on his own sofa.   
Jake would need a sofa, also.  
John. John was easily Jade's most familiar person, she knew he would be easy with any sleeping arrangement, which could work to her advantage.   
"Okay. Things are going to be a touch cramped, but if none of you object to the arrangements I'll be making... that'd be great." Jade clapped, hoping her careful weighting would pay off.   
"In one of Karkat's doubles, we will have- and if you could group when I call you that'd be fantastic- John, Dave, Feferi, and me." Dave raised an eyebrow of querying at John, but recieved no reply.  
"On the sofa over here, Sollux, on that sofa, Jake." Both boys in question nodded in acceptance, "Aradia, if you're up to it, could you stay with Sollux?"  
"That's okay with me."  
"Great! Okay, next, Equius and Nepeta will be sharing the futon. It's nowhere near big enough for both of you, but I'll show you what I plan to do about that."  
"That leaves us with three bed spaces and four people." Karkat pointed out.  
"I'm getting there. Kanaya, Rose, you'll take the other double bed. I'm not going to overfill you, as I noticed that you, Kanaya, tend to put your hand to your middle when you walk. There's blood on your skirt, too, so I assume you've been injured."  
"Excellent Deductive Skills." Kanaya cracked a smirk.  
"Thank you. Gamzee, Tavros, do you think you could share the camp bed?"  
"They'd have to sleep basically en-fucking-twined, Jade, it's like two foot wide."  
"That's okay with me motherfucker, what about you, Tavbro?"  
"Y-yeah, I c-c-can work with th-that."  
Jade gave a sideways smile at Karkat, who huffed. "Whatever, just don't break my shit."  
"I swear, bro."  
"Well, I have NO idea what to do for the rest of the day. Jade said cheerily.  
"How about tellin' us what happened to Jake?" Feferi suggested. Jade looked to Karkat for his approval- not that she needed it- and the albino patted her arm in reply.  
Dave sat with John on the sofa, and Feferi on the floor. Jake was passed out on the arm of the seat.

"On our way to France- where we were going to avoid the batterwitch- Jake decided he had to stop in London to 'see what the royal ruckus' was about." John and Jade rolled their eyes simultaneously, "We booked a hotel for three nights, but on our second night, Jake convinced me to go out drinking with him.  
"Ah." John sighed.  
"Yeah, 'Ah.' He got into this huge fight, arguing with a blond guy who said Avatar sucked."  
"It does!" came Karkat's call from across the room.  
"He attacked this blond guy, and the blond guy attacked back. Jake got stabbed, there was a commotion, I got him out." Jade shrugged.  
"And then? How did y' end up here?"   
"To stop the hotel calling the hospital, I bought a long coat off some guy in the street. Karkat said 'Vriska,' and he- Karkat, that is- was with her. He noticed I was having trouble with Jake and followed me back to the hotel. From there, into my room, and he treated Jake. I told him we might be followed and he took us in to hide us."  
"That's kind of him." Jade didn't miss Feferi's suspicious tone.  
"I thought that, too, but behind all the shouting and swearing I really think he's a good person."  
"If you say so. Hey Carpkat!" Feferi waved him over. He arrived, hissing and spitting in rage at the nickname, only to be extinguished by a hug of thanks from Feferi. A moment of silence passed, and Jade stood to pry her sister off of him.

Jade sat calmly with Karkat come midnight. The soft grunts of sleeping friends filled the house, but Karkat sat on his bed in tears. Jade put an arm around him in comfort, her free hand brushing across his hair gently, repetitively.   
"Don't look at me." he managed in a broken voice. Jade shushed him, continuing her hair-stroking routine.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No." his reply was sharp, immediate, and Jade was taken aback. She didn't pry, though, and instead she pulled him in. He turned into her to cry freely, and only then did Jade consider that Karkat was too knowledgeable, too experienced at his medical work to be a novice caretaker. Again, she bit her tongue as she realised the amount of people that he must have saved.  
She refused to think about those that would have died as he tried furiously to save them. People cut and burnt by friends or strangers. People that had made attempts on their own lives.  
Karkat cried into her shoulder, and she silently let free a few of her own tears at the prospect of life her new friend bore.


	9. Immortals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mom, please, if we don't fix this, he'll die!" Her voice rose in distress, her already-overworked mind struggling to string a sentence together. She finished the stitches and washed the blood away, dabbing gently.  
> "Let 'im, I don't give a fuck.' the Condesce stared at her.  
> "You're better at stitches than me, just please..." she pleaded with her mother, who stared coldly back at her.  
> "Nah."

She faced off against her adoptive mother, glaring vaguely.  
"Feferi trusted you enough to come back with him. He's obviously special to her."  
"Bitch you think I don't know that shit? I don' care 'bout precious li'l Fef or her precious li'l feelin's. She were my flesh an' blood, an' she betrayed me when she ran away." The Condesce snapped at her. She continued to work, shaky hands making messy stitches.  
She'd regret that later.  
"Mom, please, if we don't fix this, he'll die!" Her voice rose in distress, her already-overworked mind struggling to string a sentence together. She finished the stitches and washed the blood away, dabbing gently.  
"Let 'im, I don't give a fuck.' the Condesce stared at her.  
"You're better at stitches than me, just please..." she pleaded with her mother, who stared coldly back at her.  
"Nah."  
Frustrated, tired, and strained, she lashed out. The fork she kept at all times in the waistband of her skirt went sailing through the air.  
The Condesce moved, just in time. The fork hit the wall and buried its prongs deep in the plaster.  
"Bad move, kid." The Condesce stared her down, her tone indifferent. "That's all my kids gone."  
"What-?" she managed before the Condesce lunged across the table and, with one well-placed strike, knocked her last remaining child clean out.

She awoke on the train, in a cargo carriage. Beside her was the limp form of whoever Feferi had brought to the house, still unconscious. There came a friendly tap from the door, and a blond guy with orange eyes waved politely. She was almost defensive, but she recognised the blond fellow's uniform to be that of the train attendants on this paticular route.  
"What?" she questioned, shifting slightly to shield her patient's body with her own. The attendant knawed on his own lip for a moment before stepping into the carriage. He pressed a finger to his lips to quieten her, and made his way towards the unconscious person. He indicated a blue rucksack that she hadn't realised was there, and picked the stranger up. "Still alive." he whispered to her with a strong Texan twang, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she collected the bag and walked behind him into the attendant's cabin. Another attendant sat at the table, drinking hot chocolate. The other attendant raised her eyebrows as they entered, but the first attendant shook his head.

The orange-eyed attendant laid the injured stranger gently on a bed, and then led her out into the main cabin. The other attendant already had two cups of hot chocolate set out on the gently vibrating table.  
"Roxy Lalonde." the hot chocolate attendant greeted.  
"Dirk Strider." the first attendant added.  
"Jane Crocker." She sat at the table and took the drink with a grateful nod. Dirk took his cup, too.  
"What brings you to our train with a half-dead friend?" Roxy asked Jane.  
"That fellow is certainly not my friend." Jane smiled, "It's a bit of a long story, I'm afraid."  
"We have all night." Roxy shrugged. "This train gotta go up to some city in Scotland before we loop back down t' London."  
"Alright." Jane sighed and sipped her drink. She took a deep breath, and then began her story.  
All in all, starting from her family moving to England, through Feferi and her other siblings running away, to the present situation, it took her over an hour to retell the events. Roxy listened diligently to her, a great audience.  
"Whoa Jane, that's a lotta bullshit for one person to take."  
"Tell me about it." Jane yawned, and Dirk perked up as if remembering something. He wandered off to one corner of the carriage, and returned with a uniform set. "When you get up, put this on. Nobody'll question you, We have about 16 hours until we reach London, so you should sleep."  
Jane took the uniform, nodding to show her understanding.  
"See you tomorrow." Dirk gave a sort of wave and fucked off to bed. Roxy stood, too, "You can sleep on the sofa or with me, your choice." she offered, and Jane exhaled heavily. "I'll take the sofa."  
"A'ight." Roxy beamed, "I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well!"  
"Night, Roxy." she smiled in return.

Jane slept heavily, probably heavier than she should have. It was past mid-day by the time she opened her eyes. With neither Dirk nor Roxy in sight, she changed into the uniform she'd been given and stuffed her clothes into her bag.  
There was a note on the kitchen countertop, from Roxy, that read 'help urself :3'  
Jane took a pack of biscuits down and made herself a cup of tea. Breakfast.  
Other, unfamiliar attendants filtered through the cabin, and, as Dirk had promised, they paid no attention to Jane.  
Roxy and Dirk returned an hour apart, at two and three'o'clock respectively. Dirk came in to find Roxy and Jane half-giggling, half-sobbing. He shook his head. He wasn't going to ask.

"A'ight, it's almost time to hop off." Dirk informed the girls at half four, "Get changed."  
Roxy and Jane took to the two free attendant rooms to change, as Dirk was already dressed in a black tank top and cargo pants.

"Where are we going?" Jane enquired, automatically trusting the two strangers to keep her safe.  
Dirk emerged from the middle room, cradling Jane's patient. "London."  
Jane started at Feferi's friend's appearance. He wasn't deathly pale, not yet, but he was getting there.  
"I know what to do with him." Roxy interrupted brightly.  
"What?" Jane and Dirk asked, almost together.  
"I'll show ya, when we get off, I cba explaning r'now."  
"What?" Jane breathed to Dirk.  
"She'll explain later." he clarified.

Jane wondered briefly why nobody in the packed train station was even slightly suspicious of the fact they were carrying an unconscious person, but she brushed it aside to focus on not losing Dirk and Roxy in the crowd.

City air had never smelled so much like home, the thick and heavy atmosphere filling her lungs with the scent of car fumes and pollution. Coaches and busses trundled along the roads she walked alongside, and Roxy had to take her hand, leading her through the city as she stared, enthralled.

"Here." Roxy stopped them at an alleyway, "Put him here, wake him up, run."  
Both Dirk and Jane registered alarm at her words.  
"Trust me." she said, gently.  
Dirk looked to Jane, who looked to the stranger's limp form and, with a set jaw, nodded sharply.  
Dirk sat the stranger against a wall, and looked at the others for a way to wake him.  
Jane handed him a flask of ice water she'd grabbed from the train, and Dirk splashed some of it on the stranger's face.  
Somehow, this shocked him into consciousness, and immediately, Roxy took off, Dirk and Jane moments after.  
Jane's bag remained behind.

"Roxy, are you sure he's going to be okay?" Jane fired after the blonde. Roxy gasped for breath, waving a hand to show they could slow down "I'm sure, Janey, don't worry."  
"How do you know?" Dirk quipped, clearly not as tired as the girls.  
"K... Karkat'll..." Roxy struggled for breath.  
"Alright, Roxy, chill." Dirk patted her gently on the shoulder, "We'll head to my flat, you can explain there."  
Dirk's tone was soft, but firm, and neither of the girls argued.

Dirk took hold of the girls' hands to avoid losing them as they pushed through some of the busier London streets. Roxy seemed to have some idea of where she was going, but Jane was lost, both in direction and metaphorically, in the city atmosphere. She hadn't realised how homesick she'd been for their old home in America, until the feeling had been rolled back and she felt like she could breathe again.  
It didn't take them long to reach Dirk's home. He let them in, and Roxy collapsed on his sofa. Jane hovered for a moment before sitting tentatively on the arm.  
"When you're done recovering, Roxy, we'd like that explanation." Dirk spoke as he made his way to the kitchen area to make drinks.  
Roxy groaned softly, but sat up all the same.  
"A'ight, well, when I hit 16 and my mom died, I ran away to central London, 'cause I lived on the outskirts. Cut a long story shirt- short- my endeavour didn't go down too well. Some psycho stabbed me an' took my shit, left me for dead. Some guy found me an' fixed me. His name's Karkat and he does that a lot."  
Jane didn't know why Roxy's story made so much sense.  
"But how do you know that this Karkat guy will find him?" Dirk asked, pressing a cup of coffee into Roxy's hands.  
Roxy took a gulp, "I spent a few months with him, helpin' out. I know 'is usual sroutes. Routes."  
"And that's one of them?"  
"Yeah." Roxy drank again. Jane looked over to Dirk, who shrugged. Neither of them had any option but to trust the blonde.

Dirk told them that they could stay as long as they wanted; he owned the flat, so they didn't have to pay rent, but they'd have to chip in for food and stuff.  
These conditions were favourable to the girls, and they readily accepted.  
Jane got a job in a café towards the street they'd dropped the injured stranger, and Roxy started working in a nightclub not too far from Dirk's apartment.

A month, overall, they went through this routine without event. Dirk grew closer still to Jane, even more so when he came home after a night out with a burst lip, cracked shades and a fair bit of blood on his hands that probably wasn't his.

Jane cleaned him up, washing the blood away, and used the last of her supplies for paper stitches.  
He recounted the event to her, how a drunken guy had attacked him for some negative comments towards the movie. 'Avatar'  
He also mentioned that he suspected he'd cut the stranger after his glass smashed.  
Jane chuckled and said that it sounded like her brother.

Two months to the day that they'd moved in, Jane had a day off. Of course, the only reasonable response she found for this was to go back to the shop where she worked, and take her friends with her, for coffee and cake.

Fate chose that day to be the one that Aradia wandered into the café, trailing a disgruntled Sollux behind her.  
Already overflowing with customers, a pale-haired waitress signed pleadingly for Jane to help. Jane diligently took the responsibility, informing her friends she'd return momentarily.

Jane took the orders, and eventually Aradia stepped up to the desk and ordered two teas and a- "Hold on."  
"What's wrong?" Jane asked, slightly irked.  
"Jane." Aradia read the badge.  
"Hi?"  
"My name is Aradia. Honey lemon cake, please!"  
Jane rung up her order, and Aradia took a seat with Sollux on a table next to Jane's.

As the customer flow died down, Jane returned to her table with new drinks.  
Aradia shot a glance at Jane, and the latter pretended she hadn't seen.  
Aradia's bright, honeyed voice grew slightly louder, enough for Jane to hear, as she talked to Sollux.  
Jane's attention was snagged at 'John', held at 'Jade', caught at 'Jake', and piqued at the drop of Feferi's name.  
All at one, it hit her, and Jane finally recognised the fellow with Aradia.  
"You're Feferi's friend!" she gasped, "The one who was injured!"  
Dirk and Roxy's attention was drawn now, too.  
"Oh gosh, yeah!" Roxy grinned, and Dirk gave a sound of acknowledgement.  
"Excuthe me?' Sollux questioned, but Aradia's grin grew, blooming.  
"Jane, at last! Your siblings were wondering when the fates would bring us together, and I told them to wait, but they are so very impatient."  
"That sounds like my siblings." Jane smiled brightly, too overjoyed to be dubious.  
"We'll be heading to Karkat's house soon, you can come with us if you like."  
"Hells yeah!" Roxy answered before Jane could, standing. "It's been years sunce I saw him! Since."  
"Oh fuck, not another one." Sollux rolled his eyes. Aradia thwapped him gently on the head with a menu.

"Karkat?" Aradia called into the seemingly empty house.  
"MAIN ROOM." Karkat's bellow came, and Aradia pushed the door open to let the others in.  
The house came to life in ripples, drawing all the inhabitants from their places across the house to the living room with Roxy's shriek of joy, "Karkat!"  
"Wha- shit- Roxy, stop!" Karkat protested as the blonde hugged him. She did as she was bidden, and Karkat stood to look at her.  
"Still short?" she chuckled gently,  
"Still homeless?" he bit back. Roxy grinned, and waved a hand at Dirk and Jane, "Nope!"

Jane heard her name called three times in quick succession, and found herself very suddenly enveloped in a trio of people all jostling to hug her tightly. She laughed, unable to contain her utter euphoria at seeing her siblings again. She clung to Jake and Jade's arms, and tipped her head back against John's shoulder.  
They stood in a cluster together for a good while, until Rose and Dave entered the room and, in complete unison, "Roxy?"  
"Shiiiiit, Dave, Rose, I ain't seen you two together since y'all were babies!" Roxy bounced over to them, as Dave took on an expression of confusion, and realisation dawned on Rose's face. She pulled them both into a hug, and Rose released Dave's hand to hug back.  
"Rox, what d'you mean together? How do you know each other? We only met a few weeks ago." Dave gabbled, awkwardly half-hugging his cousin. Roxy frowned, Rose shook her head, "Oblivious."  
"You know then, Rosey?" Roxy's frown made way to a new smile.  
"I've figured it out, yes. Dave, your father's name is Broderick, correct?"  
"I, yeah, how-?"  
"Broderick Strider is my father."  
Dave realised what she was batting at, "We're siblings."  
"We're twins." Rose corrected, "December third."  
Roxy looked between them, "Y' mean to tell me that y'all never knew ya were siblings?"  
"Mom always told me I was an only child." Rose shrugged.  
"Yeah, same." Dave raised a hand.  
"D'you remember Dirk?" Roxy asked, the question directed more at Dave.  
"Uh... yeah, vaguely. He's like my second cousin or something?"  
"Yup, he's over there."  
Dirk waved awkwardly from the corner, attracting the attention of Jane and her siblings.  
"You!" Jade barked.  
"Fiend!" Jake yelled in almost unison. Dirk looked at them, and Jane saw his eyes widen in the second before the duo descended on him, Jade grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and half-yanking him up, and Jake standing by with shoulders drawn and fists raised.  
"You're the bastard that stabbed my brother." Jade snarled.  
"Technically, it was self-defence." Dirk managed, staring up into Jade's angry face, "But I never meant to h-hurt you badly," he directed at Jake, "Just get you away. The glass smashed."  
"Sure." Jade pulled further, allowing Jake a clear shot, but before his fist could make contact, Jane had broken away from John and moved to stand between her brother and her friend. "Considering the amount of glass I had to pull, and the good pint of blood I'm sure he lost, I don't believe he is lying."  
"Jake could have died."  
"And the point in beating him up is?"  
"Fuck, shit," Jade spat, releasing Dirk, "I hate it when you're right."  
"Thank you. I recommend you two-" she indicated Dirk and Jake "-sit and talk this through. No fighting."  
"Alright, if you trust this fellow to not shred me again, I'm sure I must trust your judgement."  
Jane groaned, but put her hand on Jade's shoulder, steering her gently away from the boys.  
Feferi waited patiently to hug Jane on her return, drawing back and clasping her sister's hands. "Thank you."  
"What for?"  
"Keeping Sollux alive." Feferi smiled, "For doing what y' could."  
"Feferi, I'm so sorry, I screwed up his stitches and-"  
"It's okay, Jane, he's alive, an' you tried."  
"I tried to get mom to do them but- but-"  
Jane burst into tears, and Feferi hugged her. "It's okay, don't worry."  
"That's why I'm here." Jane sniffled, "Upon her refusal to help, I threw my fork at her, and she knocked me out in retaliation."  
"Whoa shit."  
"I awoke on the passenger train with Sollux and- oh. My bag." Jane realised she hadn't remembered to pick it up.  
"Right here." Sollux called from across the room, slim fingers looped through the bag strap, holding it up. Jane grinned, hurrying to take it with thanks.  
"Dirk and Rox took me in from there, it was Roxy's idea to send Sollux in Karkat's direction."  
"It's a good job y' did, an' didn' send 'im to th' 'ospital. Legally, Sollux is dead."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah. We're assassins."  
"I... since when?"  
"Not long after I left, maybe a month or so?" Feferi shrugged, "Stowed away on a cargo ship."  
"Jesus, Feferi." Jane patted her sister lightly on the shoulder.  
"It's no big deal, Jane, not really." Feferi half-smiled. "The Grand Highblood picked me up as a hitchhiker- that's my boss, by the way- and asked me to become an assassin. I thought he was jokin', but I guess not. We recruited Sollux about five years ago, and I trained him for a year, then worked with him for another four. I'm guessin' we ain't partners any more, though, considerin'"  
"I heard, Aradia filled me in on the way here." Jane nodded thoughtfully.  
"Aradia's sweet, she deserves a lot better than that, but if he's what she chooses, I suppose I should support that." Feferi shrugged, "She's very dear to me now."  
"Hey, Feferi," Gamzee interrupted, tapping her shoulder, "Did I hear ya say Highblood?"  
"Yes, y' did. Why d'you ask?"  
"That's uh... that's my dad."  
"Oh. Gods, Gamzee, that must have been horrible."  
"Yeah, it really was." Gamzee scuffed his shoes on the floor. "You don't know the half of it, sister."  
Feferi patted him on the back gently. "Y' have us, now." she told him gently, and Tavros appeared at his other side to guide him away as he started to cry. Before he left, he gripped Feferi's wrist gently, "Thank you."

Jane, Roxy and Dirk returned home not long after the exchange, Dirk's hands wouldn't stay still. He turned a small slip of paper over, and over, fiddling with it the entire walk back to his apartment.  
"What's that?" Jane's curiosity got the better of her. Dirk let out a stutter of air that Jane recognised as a chuckle, and held the paper out for her to read.  
Jane immediately recognised her brother's thin, slanted handwriting, and telltale use of green pen. It was a mobile number- Jake's number, to be precise. Jane looked to Dirk, to the paper, and back to Dirk, mouth open in surprise. He gave her a sheepish smile, "Your brother's hot."  
"Seconded!" Roxy called from Jane's other side.  
"We're twins." Jane garbled, mentally facepalming.  
"Hey, hey, I didn't say you weren't!" Roxy bumped against her shoulder.  
Dirk nodded, "You're pretty, Jane, don't get me wrong, but I was thinking more... romantically, towards Jake."  
The realisation of his words made both Jane and Roxy grin at him, and Dirk coughed awkwardly, the tips of his ears flushing.

"Are there any empty apartments in this block, Dirk?" Roxy asked him as the sky began to darken. She lounged on the sofa, the main room lights off, with only the T.V. shedding soft light on the room.  
Dirk was sat at the table in the adjoining kitchen, the light above him illuminating his work. He set the machinery down, "Sorry?"  
"I said, are there any empty apartments in this block?" Roxy turned to look at him.  
"A few, I think."  
"It'd be nice if we could move Rose and Dave into our block." she mused brightly. Dirk's expression shifted, unrecognisable.  
"Yes, yes it would."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isnt late water you ta lking about ha hahah
> 
> i;ve been working on this chapter for a few weeks im sorry  
> We're catching up to the start of the timeline now, and we'll succeed the most forward point in time (Chapter 2- please excuse me, i can no longer type the name)
> 
> I don't know if anyone will die or anything i have essentially no idea what they want to do once Eridan is reuinited with Sollux and Fef, but he'll be a lot more passive (Like immediately post-rejection ED in canon) than he's been so far :B  
> i like eridan :/


End file.
